CAIRO: The head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawy appeared in court Saturday to give his testimony in ousted president Hosni Mubrak trial. Lawyers of the families of those killed during the uprising have applied for a request to change the court and its judges, after they accused them of taking the former president's side. One of the lawyers told the press that Mubarak's defense was allowed to ask Tanatwy several questions, while they were only allowed to ask one. They also said that security at the court's gates clashed with them and initially refused to let them inside. “The court had previously allowed us to discuss matters with the witnesses yet yesterday there were attemps to prevent us from entering the court room and we were able to after clashing with security. The court didn't give us any chance to discuss anything during the session,” said Mamdouh Ismael, one of the lawyers. He added that the court didn't even allow the prosecutor to ask questions. Mubarak, his former minister of interior and 6 of his top aides are on trial for killing some 1,000 protesters during the popular Egyptian uprising this past January. Press has been banned by court order from releasing any information about Tantawy's testimony, however the SCAF chief was asked about the meetings that he attended with Mubarak and his deputy Omar Soliman, at the time and to answer if Mubarak gave the army orders to use force against protesters as Tantawy previously said, following the fall of the regime. Tantawy is Egypt's military ruler in the transitional period. He was appointed by Mubarak as the minister of defense and remained in his position for 18 years. Earlier this year, millions of Egyptians took to the streets across the country, demanding an end to Mubarak's 30-year-rule. Police forces who were passive during the first few days, but then opened fire at protestants killing and injuring thousands. Mubarak stepped down on February 12 and the SCAF took over power promising to hand it over to an elected civil government. Anger with the SCAF has been growing for months with rights activists, accusing them of oppressing freedom and putting civilians in front of military trials. Activists say over 12,000 people have been tried in military trials in Egypt since Mubarak's fall, all civilians, including hundreds of bloggers and activists. The SCAF has recently reactivated the infamous emergency law to “fight security chaos.” The law was enforced for 29-years during the Mubarak era and was a tool for the government to fight “terrorism and drugs,” but in reality was used to oppress freedom of speech and to silence opposition. Early on Sunday, thousands of copies of Sout al-Omah newspaper were confiscated and shredded before reaching readers for revealing details about Tantawy's testimony, according to local reports. The paper was issued hours later after removing the article. Editor in-cheif Abdel Halim Qandeel said a higher authoritative body was behind the ban decision without confirming if the article indeed discussed the testimony or not. Confiscating newspapers, puting journalists on trial and controlling what the press printed was a common tactic during the former regime, where the state-owned and operated several newspapers and magazines and it was difficult for new publication to get a license in Egypt. Following the uprising, media enjoyed relative freedom with tens of new newspapers and TV channels starting to work, yet many independent publications still adhere to editorial policies that ban criticism of the SCAF or its generals. BM
